Scooter and fatbike seller La Souris is under the microscope by consumer program Radar. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has also been investigating La Souris since June. The company is facing complaints regarding deliveries, maintenance, repairs, and the accessibility of customer service.

 

The ACM is giving the company six months to improve matters, otherwise the regulator will intervene.

Radar reports that virtually all complainants are dissatisfied with the customer service. Customers report waiting times of up to two hours, after which the connection is cut off. Scheduling maintenance and the company's communication appear to be the biggest problem, according to Radar.

Founder acknowledges problems

Armando Muis, founder of La Souris, acknowledges the problems, which he says arose after a shortage of skilled mechanics forced the company to perform maintenance and repairs centrally rather than locally in the stores. Speaking to Radar, Muis says: “In the beginning, the centralization went fine, but we did run into processes that weren't running smoothly. Things weren't properly documented, weren't clear to employees, and the IT systems weren't well prepared for it. And the moment you can't adequately handle the volumes here centrally, it naturally piles up. We had the warehouse full in no time, couldn't get it back to the store fast enough, and then you get chaos. Customers start calling. They all did it at the same time, resulting in customer service being overloaded and you being on hold for an hour.”

ILT intervened

Muis says he may have underestimated the change. The processes have since been adjusted, and according to Muis, hard work is also being done on the accessibility of customer service. “I can guarantee that we will have a fast response time for tickets within the next few weeks.”

At the end of July this year, Muis, who is known as the fatbike king of the Netherlands, gave a interview to the FD. In it, he discusses his past as a juvenile delinquent (he committed an armed robbery at the age of 15), his very religious background, and problems with regulator ILT, which seized 1.100 fatbikes. Insurers no longer wanted Muis as a client, and La Souris was placed under special administration at its house bank, Rabo.

Muis claims in the interview that revenue this year will be between 60 and 70 million euros, just slightly more than last year; the FD notes that the accountant refrained from giving an opinion on the most recently filed annual accounts (2024).

(Ziptone, FD, Radar)

Customer Experience, Featured